PHS keeps postseason hopes alive

PORTALES — Still hoping to sneak into next week’s eight-team Class 4A state tournament as the No. 2 team out of its district, the Portales High volleyball squad suffered a bit of an early hiccup on Thursday night.

Facing a struggling young Lovington contingent, the Lady Rams trailed all the way in dropping the first set. They quickly righted the ship, though, and in the end thrashed the winless Lady Wildcats 19-25, 25-10, 25-5, 25-14 at the Ram Athletic Center.

PHS (8-3, 2-3 District 4-4A), which suffered a tough three-set loss to unbeaten district champion Roswell Goddard on Tuesday at the RAC, needed a sweep at second-place Artesia (9-2, 3-2) with a total margin of at least 11 points in Saturday’s regular-season finale. That would allow Portales to overtake the Lady Bulldogs for second place on a points tie-breaker, and at least have a chance at an at-large state berth after Artesia swept the earlier matchup at Portales by 11 total points.

With junior middle blocker Kylyie Paden nursing a leg injury and not able to dominate in the front row as usual, senior Rheagan Courtney and junior Adrianna Garcia picked up the slack. Courtney finished with 13 kills, while Garcia had nine kills and a pair of blocks.

Paden, limited to four kills, still hurt the Lady Wildcats at the service line with nine of the team’s 17 aces.

“We just didn’t come in playing our game,” Garcia said of the first set. “We missed a lot of serves (early), but we eventually got back into it.”

Lovington (0-11, 0-5) built an 11-3 lead en route to just its third set win of the season and first on the road. PHS quickly turned the tables in Game 2, using a nine-point run to open a 14-3 cushion.

That dominance continued in the third set — even after Lovington scored the first two points on PHS errors.

“I thought we played well in the last three games,” PHS coach Ruth Chavez said. “I think we tried too hard in the first game.

“We had more focus (as the match went on). Once everybody calmed down, we were fine.”

The Lady Wildcats held another brief 2-0 lead in the fourth and were still within 10-8 before Portales took off on an 8-0 blitz to all but settle the issue.

“We came in really hungry for a win; this was a good win for us,” Garcia said. “We just need to build off this momentum.”

On Tuesday against Goddard (9-0, 5-0), the Lady Rams hung tough but fell short as the Lady Rockets locked up the district crown.

Paden had nine kills and five blocks in that one. Junior libero Teagan Faust posted a team-leading 12 digs, while senior Kinzie Davis collected four aces.

Lady Cats wrap up district title, state berth — It was anything but easy, but the Clovis High girls clinched the District 4-5A volleyball championship on Thursday at Hobbs … and with it, a berth in next week’s eight-team Class 5A state tournament.

The Lady Wildcats erased a 2-1 deficit with a narrow fourth-game win, then jumped on Hobbs early in the fifth to finish off a 25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9 win over the Lady Eagles. Clovis hosted Roswell High (3-6, 2-3 district) in Saturday’s regular-season finale at The Rock.

Senior outside hitter/middle blocker Kaci Cabeldue had 12 kills for CHS while senior outside hitter/setters Tabitha Gallegos and Kameron Kelley posted double-doubles, each finishing with 11 digs and 17 assists.

“We passed the ball really well,” CHS coach Darrel Ray said. “Our middles did a great job, and our outsides gave us some timely hits.”

With last-place Carlsbad’s five-set win at Roswell High on Thursday, CHS (7-4, 4-1) owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Hobbs (5-6, 3-2). Ray expects his team to travel for a first-round match on Tuesday and possibly a semifinal on Thursday, with the championship slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday at the University of New Mexico’s Johnson Center in Albuquerque.

The Lady Eagles controlled the second set and held off Clovis late, while the first, third and fourth sets went back and forth. In Game 5, the Lady Cats opened a 6-1 lead and were never headed.

“Hobbs has some outstanding athletes,” Ray said. “Aniya Joseph is an outstanding hitter, but we made her work really hard.”

With spectator capacity starting to open up in the state, a number of Clovis fans made the trip and gave the match more the feeling of the rivalry that it is.

“We had about 60 or 65 people cheering for us,” Ray said. “The crowd really got into it on both sides.”

On Tuesday night, Clovis put itself in position to win the district, rallying for a 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 win at Carlsbad. Cabeldue had eight kills and three blocks, while Kelley and Gallegos again posted double-doubles in assists and digs.

“When we got off the bus, it looked like it had been a long bus ride,” Ray said.

After struggling to claim a 2-1 lead in games, the Lady Cats finally began to take control in Game 4.